The significance of mothers' attachment for vagal responding during interactions with infants
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Little is known about the significance of mothers' attachment for neurobiological responding during interactions with infants, as research has primarily examined neurobiological responding to unfamiliar infant stimuli. To advance knowledge of the real-world significance of mothers' attachment for autonomic physiological responding during interactions with offspring, we examined links between mothers' (N=139) attachment representations and change in respiratory sinus arrhythmia (RSA)--an index of physiological regulation--while interacting with infants in the Still-Face Procedure (SFP). Mothers higher (vs. lower) on secure base script knowledge (SBSK) exhibited greater change in RSA from rest over the course of the SFP characterized by decreases in RSA during normal play, increases in RSA during the still-face episode, and decreases in RSA upon reunion. Findings indicate that mothers' higher (vs. lower) on SBSK exhibit RSA responding reflective of physiological regulation during normal play and reunion-- consistent with the need to engage infants in social interaction--and RSA responding during the still-face episode suggesting that becoming unresponsive to infants is physiologically dysregulating. Findings advance knowledge of the significance of adult attachment for the neurobiology of caregiving, by indicating that mothers' higher on SBSK exhibit flexible shifts in RSA while interacting with infants according to caregiving context.
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This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs 3.0 License. Copyright held by author.